ECtHR finds Russia's violation of two Chechens' right to life

Residents of Chechnya Khasan Sagaev and Rasul Mukaev were kidnapped by Russian power agents and got missing, while the authorities' inquiry into their disappearances was held inefficiently, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled and awarded compensation to relatives of the missing persons in the amount of 64,000 and 84,000 euros, accordingly.

The ECtHR has ruled in the case "Sagaev et al versus Russia", consisting of two episodes today, the "Caucasian Knot" was informed by Olga Gnezdilova, the legal director of the project "Legal Initiative" in Russia.

The ECtHR has stated that the circumstances of detention of Sagaev and Mukaev, and of their subsequent disappearances, "suggest that they had been deliberately and illegally deprived of their lives by state agents, while the state had failed to conduct an effective official investigation," said Olga Gnezdilova, stressing that the "Legal Initiative" would seek enforcement of the above ECtHR's decision.

According to the ECtHR's decision, Russian authorities had violated four articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The ECtHR has decided to award 60,000 euros to the family of Khasan Sagaev and 80,000 euros to the family of Rasul Mukaev, and reimburse to them 4000 euros each of judicial expenses, says the website of the ECtHR.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.